King of Greed (Kings of Sin #3) by Ana Huang

“Our sex life wasn’t an issue, but we can’t solve our issues with sex.” Alessandra finally met my eyes, her expression locked tight behind a steel wall. “I was drunk at the bar, and we were caught up in the adrenaline of what happened at Le Boudoir last night. There were too many emotions flying around that had nothing to do with this.” She gestured between us.

Le Boudoir. Roman. Fuck. That was a whole other mess, but I’d deal with it later. For now, I focused all my energy on breathing through the strangling knot in the back of my throat. Beneath it, a fresh ember of anger sparked, and I grasped at it like a drowning man at rope.

“So what? You’re going to walk out and pretend like nothing happened? What are you going to do, Alessandra?” I bit out. “Run to your fancy divorce lawyer and ask him to do your dirty work for you again because you’re too scared to face me yourself?”

An audible inhale. “Fuck you.”

“You already did.”

I saw it coming, but the crack of her palm against my cheek hurt more than I’d expected. The fire spread from my face to my chest, where it ate away at the pieces of my heart while Alessandra and I stared at each other, our breaths jagged.

“I’m…I didn’t mean…” She faltered, looking stunned.

My anger drained so quickly I didn’t have time to register its loss, and the cold shock of remorse took its place.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Broken relationships belonged in the past with the old Dominic, who had nothing to keep people around. No one had cared about me until I made something of myself. The more money I accumulated, the more people gravitated toward me. It was a law of human nature. I wasn’t supposed to lose the only person I cared about keeping now, when I was richer than I’d ever been.

“Get out of my classroom.”

“You stupid, stupid boy. No wonder your own mother abandoned you…”

“Your current foster parents have requested you be moved to a different home…”

I forced the memories at bay. I didn’t live in that world anymore, and I would rather die than return.

I touched my cheek. The aftermath of Alessandra’s slap stung less than the chasm between us. She stood less than a foot away, but we might as well be on different continents.

In a distant part of the house, the sound of a vacuum started up and severed the spell keeping us frozen. Alessandra turned, and I grasped her wrist before she could leave.

“Don’t.” My heart fought to break out of my chest with vicious blows. “I’m sorry, amor.”

I’d been an asshole, but when my only choices were pain or anger, my instinct was to seek shelter in the latter.

She exhaled a shuddering breath. “Let me go.”

My grip tightened. She wasn’t talking about just this moment, and we both knew it.

“I wish I could.” It would be easier if I never fell for her. I went into our first meeting determined to hate her, not knowing she would be the one who showed me what real love was instead. I might not have expressed it as often as I should’ve, but she’d always been the sun keeping my world in orbit.

Alessandra shook her head, her cheeks shining with wetness. “Dominic, it’s over. Accept it. You’re only dragging out the inevitable.”

Accept it, my ass. This couldn’t be it. Not for us, not after last night.

“Then why can’t you look at me?” I demanded.

She shook her head again, her shoulders trembling with silent sobs.

“Dammit, Ále.” A small, humiliating crack split her name in half. I was breaking into a million pieces, and she couldn’t even be bothered to notice. “Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me you don’t love me anymore?”

“Loving you was never the problem!” She finally met my eyes, her expression equal parts infuriated and anguished. “I’ve loved you for eleven years, Dom. I loved you so much I lost myself. Everything I did, everything I gave up and endured was for you. The late nights, the missed dates, the canceled trips. I believed in you and wanted you to succeed, not because I cared about the money, but because you did. I thought one day, it would be enough, and you would be happy with what we had. But you’ll never be happy, and I’ll never be enough.”

A bitter laugh mixed with her sob. “Do you know that there were times when I wished you had a mistress? At least then, I would have something concrete to fight. But I can’t fight what I can’t see, so I went to sleep every night in an empty bed, and I woke up every morning to an empty house. I faked my smiles for so long I couldn’t remember what a real one felt like, and I hate myself because despite all that, I couldn’t let go of what we once had.” Alessandra’s voice broke. “You’re right. I do still love you. A part of me always will. But you’re not the person I fell in love with anymore, and all this time that I’ve spent trying to pretend you are? It’s killing me.”

The room blurred, and a painful roar filled my ears as I dropped her arm.

I couldn’t draw enough oxygen into my lungs. Couldn’t think clearly. Couldn’t breathe.

Throughout it all—the long weeks, the ignored calls, even the damn divorce papers—I’d thought we would make it. After all, perseverance had gotten me this far. The unwanted foster kid from Ohio turned king of Wall Street. The pauper turned billionaire. The unlovable turned husband.